Never ask anyone what kind of tree they want to be

I remember many years ago Katherine Hepburn was interviewed by Barbara Walters. You know, on one of Barbara’s “star specials” that she would air on tv and inevitably Barbara would get even the toughest of Hollywood stars to spill their guts and cry or overshare about their past. During Barbara’s interview with Katherine, the movie star said something about being a tree to which Barbara asked her what kind of tree she wanted to be. Katherine said she would want to be a mighty oak tree. Barbara, years later, in recounting this story would say “I would hope to be an oak tree like Katherine… I certainly would not want to be a weeping willow…”

But did you know that the branches of a willow tree make an awesome fort? They do. It’s the perfect tree because parts of the branches can be quite sturdy for a fort framework while other branches are nicely nimble and can easily be used to bend and weave into walls for a fort.

I have fond memories of building a ground fort as a kid from fallen limbs and branches of a backyard willow tree. What possessed me to build that fort out of those branches I do not know, but I’ve always liked to build things, so it probably was a random thought, “hmmm…I wonder if…?” and then days later there was a full blown fort.

As a relative newbie to this side of the industry I have come to realize that much like the general “print” industry a lot of you are super creative. You ARE! You are builders, tinkerers, aircraft pilots, musicians, artists. You are hard workers who excel. You work long, hard hours and are able to juggle many tasks and thoughts at a time. Some of you are avid sports and health/ fitness gurus. Work hard and play even harder might just be your motto.

Let’s face it, you have endured a lot in the last couple of years. Economic turmoil and uncertainty. You have made all kinds of different choices. Maybe you focused on one aspect of your business or entered an entirely new channel to keep momentum. Whatever is thrown into your path, you keep plowing through. Nothing stops you. You share stories of triumphs over travails.

In all of those times, I sincerely hope that you find Optima to be a partner by your side ready, willing and able to get you over that next hurdle. I hope you find Optima to be that partner who helps you find the solution to a nagging challenge or a partner able to provide multiple options to get you to your goal of pleasing your customer. If not, why not give us a shot, we have some creative minds on our team

But really, I have to ask: “what tree do you want to be?” A mighty oak is mighty fine, but we can’t all be oaks now can we? Seems to me that a willow is just ok, too.